‘Good growth’ in wholesale apparel

Respected international sporting goods industry newsletter, Sporting Goods Intelligence, reports the global sports apparel market has expanded by 8.1 percent in terms of US dollars at the wholesale level in 2011, according to its annual study.

However, growth was lower in local currencies and lower at retail.

Sales of sports clothing rose faster in the US and in the Asia-Pacific area than in Europe.

Adidas remained the world’s largest supplier and its market share went up.

The top 25 companies grew together by 14.1 percent, compared with an estimated increase of only 1.9 percent for the others.

Sales of athletic shoes increased at a higher rate of 13.2 percent in dollar terms, according to another exclusive survey by SGI.